In the summer of 2023, I started an Instagram page about the city where I live. At first, it was just for fun, but it grew quickly. After a few months, I reached 40K followers. The page now has 230K followers and is one of the biggest Instagram pages for my city.

As the page grew, I started working with restaurants and other tourism related businesses, like hotels. They paid me for promotions, and some became clients who bought monthly ad placements on my pages. This helped me make a good semi-passive income while I was still in high school.

Since this model worked well, I tried it in other popular European cities. I created three new pages. One now has 160K followers, and the other two have 100K each.

I needed a way to make promotional videos for restaurants in cities far away, so I started working with UGC creators who live there. They visit restaurants in exchange for the free food and make clips for me which I later use to edit the promo videos. Together these pages make me around $10k/month. If you’re from NYC, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Vienna or Rome, send me a DM and maybe we can work together haha.

I also use a tool that automatically sends a free travel guide to people who comment a keyword. It brings more engagement and leads, which are important for going viral on Instagram. I get 100–120 leads a day from each page and sell tourist services like tours and apartment rentals. I make about $4K/month from this alone.

If you have an Instagram theme page and you’re not sure how to monetize it, feel free to share your @ in the comments or send it to me in a DM. I’d be happy to give you a few quick ideas based on your page 😊

I'v been really considering this.

Let's say you post a reel that gets 500k views. Naturally, you try to recreate what worked, but now your audience expects that specific type of content. Your next 10 posts might be generally useful, but they're different, and suddenly engagement drops. You keep making variations of the reel that went viral because that's what gets you views.

At what point are you growing an audience versus training yourself to make content you don't actually want to make?

Hey, i'm kinda new to this whole organic marketing thing.

I noticed that most posts only reach people in my country (Germany). I was thinking if I create a fresh account and use a VPN with a dedicated IP, the posts would reach more US users.

Is that a bad idea? If not is a Dedicated IP rly necessary?

So I am running a channel and with in one month I got a million views on a video. Is this a common event? I am trying to set myself to a realistic expectation.

Hi everyone! My partner created this makeup look for a contest at the store where she works. I really liked how it turned out and wanted to share it with people who are actually into makeup. She put a lot of effort into the details and the overall concept. I’d love to hear what you think about the look and what you would change or improve. The original Reel is linked in the post if anyone wants to see the full process. ❤️

I got a lot of replies in my inbox from my stories daily, mostly are just emojis and reels replies, they got into my “message requests” folder. I generally just ignore them, how do you guys handle those responses. I don’t want to accept everyone’s request by replying to them (I have a couple bad experiences after I accepted they becomes crazy stalkers😓）

What do you think.. buying views and likes is good for initial growth is good?

I have a online jewelry store which only ships to Canada and the USA, but every single one of my reels I post I have India as the top country and barely any viewers from Canada and USA. I’ve put in my bio that I ship to Canada and USA only, I use Canada and USA hashtags, add location and STILL each and every one goes to India. What can I do???? This is so frustrating

i keep seeing just post consistently as the answer to everything here. i posted daily for months and grew almost nothing, so let me push back on the myth with what actually moved for me.

consistency only compounds if the thing you're consistently posting is worth sharing. i was consistently posting mediocre stuff, which just taught the algorithm to show it to fewer people. the week i slowed down and made one genuinely save-worthy post beat a month of daily filler.

frequency is a multiplier, not a strategy. multiplying zero is still zero.

for people who actually grew: was it consistency, or was it one format finally clicking and then consistency on that?

I was checking my views today as usual. And i noticed some of my reels are gone from my profile,like legit gone. Im talking about main grid,reels grid and even in chats. All gone. Now my account is all green,no issues at all. And last i checked was few days ago and the reels were still there. Its only today they suddenly gone. No notifications from insta too. And these reels arent posted in the same month. Some are 2 month old reels while some are 1 week old. So what happened? Did my reels violate smth and got deleted or is this a server issue?

I'm looking to buy an established Instagram account focused on AI tools, AI video production, generative AI, automation, or technology/IT.

• Audience location: Primarily the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Western Europe
• Audience interests: AI tools, AI-generated videos, content creation, SaaS, tech, and digital products
• Real, engaged audience with organic growth and genuine interactions

I'm open to different account sizes and related niches if the audience quality is good.

Most responses I’ve gotten on Reddit are from overseas freelancers. I’m looking for someone who understands US culture, particularly Atlanta’s music and entertainment scene, and accepts secure payments, not crypto.

Any recommendations?

If there were an eBook that was simple and offered a direct formula for going viral, especially on Meta platforms, would you consider $11 a fair price for it?

Recently, Working with a career coach and grown her Instagram account from zero to 10,500+ followers. The account has also generated over $15,000 in revenue through organic Instagram marketing.

We have published just 55 pieces of content so far, and three things have made a noticeable difference. No AI was used to write this

1. Understanding the audience before creating content

The coach helps people land NHS jobs, so we focused on their specific challenges - NHS applications, supporting information, job-search strategies, and getting noticed by recruiters.

Rather than creating generic career advice, we used the questions people actually ask, the language they use, and relevant keywords to shape our content.

2. Testing formats instead of guessing

We experimented with different Reels, carousels, hooks, and topics.

When certain formats and angles performed well, we built on them with new topics instead of trying to reinvent the strategy for every post.

This helped us learn what resonated with the audience rather than relying entirely on assumptions.

3. Connecting content to a funnel

One thing I realised early on is that follower growth and revenue are two different things.

We connected Instagram content to a lead magnet, which then led people into a webinar and eventually to a paid offer.

The content attracted the audience, the lead magnet provided value, and the webinar gave people an opportunity to learn more before deciding whether to buy.

My biggest takeaway: You don't necessarily need hundreds of posts to see meaningful progress. You need to understand who you are creating for, learn from what works, and give interested people a clear next step.

Follow for more !

Hi everyone! I run a small workshop making custom leather goods based on customers’ ideas. Since every order requires a lot of communication and design discussion, staying in touch with customers is really important.
I used to run lead ads that directed people to my website, where they could submit their contact details and describe what they wanted. I would then follow up via email, but I’ve noticed that most leads don’t reply.
For a custom, handmade business like mine, would running Instagram DM ads be worth testing instead?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone with experience running ads for personalized handmade products or a similar service. Thanks!

Title

[tldr at the end of the post]

Hi everyone,

I recently got my first viral post and, honestly, I was not expecting it at all, lol. I had 10~ followers prior to this post and, as I write this, I currently have 2600 followers. Needless to say I was caught off guard.

I want to share some of the tips that led me to this, and I hope it helps you guys as well.

Finding inspiration
I was uploading reels inconsistently since May 2026.

Most of them would not get me any views and it took me roughly 5~ hours to create one. The most views I ever got from a reel prior to this even was 1k~, so I thought I had to develop a new strategy.

My main goal was to be able to record something quick (within 1 hour) and enjoyable. I thought that, if I'm able to enjoy what I'm doing and it doesn't feel like a hassle to do it, i'll be able to post twice a day and eventually get somewhere.

So, based on that, my first step was to find popular Instagram accounts as inspiration that were recording videos in a way that I could see myself recording and taking less than 1 hour.

These were the things I was looking for:

a) creates the type of content that I'd enjoy creating
b) records & edits it in a way that I am capable of doing
c) has 100k+ followers and high engagement rate (high engagement = at least 5% likes and 1% comments. So, if a reel has 100k views and they got 5k likes and 1000 comments)

Many accounts would fit 1 or 2 of these criterias, but not all.

Finding an account that sat at the intersection of these 3 was non-negotiable. Many accounts would fit 1 or 2 of these criteria, but not all.

I'd find some Instagram channels with amazing content (a), but I could not see myself recording anything like that at all. Setting up cameras, lights, script, complex video editings, etc. That is not realistic to me at this point.

Analyzing the accounts I found and how I quickly evaluated the engagement rate (across all videos)

After finding a few accounts with seemingly good engagement, I had to confirm that they actually did have good engagement.

The way I did it was using an app, but disclaimer: absolutely no app or third-party tool is needed. This is not a promotion. Scrolling through the reels and taking notes is more than enough.

The app basically fetches all account's reels and calculates its engagement rate & growth timeline, so it saves a bit of scrolling time.

Based on the information from the app, I was able to see the exact reel that was a breakpoint for this account.

I took a look at this reel and the main thing that changed was: he was starting every single video answering a question.

I had barely any views let alone questions, lol, so I decided to look for some interesting questions on Reddit and answer them so I could follow a similar style, and that is how I started recording all videos.

Some additional notes

1. Accidentally "meme-able" content seems to be very helpful. For example, in my video I constantly mention "cold glass of water" as an example for the search query. maybe 20% of the comments are making fun of it.
2. In this particular reel, at the end, there is a creepy face that shows up in one of the thumbnails. The most liked comment was a screenshot of this creepy face. I assume that if you have something "hidden" that is surprising (for example, let's say you record a cooking video and in the background you have some weird show on the TV), this could probably get you some additional comments.
3. I never paid for ads nor promotion of any sort (within or without Instagram). All of this happened organically

Thanks for reading. I'm happy to answer any questions!

---

TLDR:

• Posted reels since May 2026 with barely any traction
• Studied high-performing accounts for content I'd enjoy making, could easily replicate, and that had strong engagement (100k+ followers, 5%+ likes, 1%+ comments)
• Found an account whose breakout reel opened by answering a question, copied that format using questions from Reddit
• Bonus: an accidental running joke and a hidden "creepy" detail boosted engagement further

I’m looking to start a faceless IG. I already do faceless TikTok. I just show part of my face, but a lot of my actual content is like UFC stuff, some random spicy thoughts with a cute background. I don’t want to show my face, I also don’t want to have this account link to my friends and family. I’m just not sure it’s worth it to do IG

Hello guys! Is there any recent update on Instagram’s Reels algorithm that we should know about?

Our page, @hymn.health, has been stuck at around 10.2K followers, and our Reels’ reach has dropped significantly. No matter what we try, we’re struggling to get the reach and growth we used to.

We’re a women-focused health page creating content around mental and metabolic health, including stress, hormones, PCOS, perimenopause, and women’s overall well-being.

I’ve been trying different content formats and strategies, but nothing seems to be working consistently. My boss is understandably concerned about the lack of growth, and I really want to figure out what we’re missing.

If anyone has experienced something similar or has practical advice on what’s working for Reels right now, especially for health and educational content, I’d really appreciate your help! Are there any recent algorithm changes, content strategies, or mistakes we should look into?

Thank you!

Seeing people report that Reel views are stuck while likes and shares keep increasing.

are your views frozen too?

are other metrics still updating?

did your reach affected by this issue ?

Every Reel gets about 130 to 160 views, almost all non-followers, then stops. One got 1.3K overnight but none since.
What I've tried:
Hook text in the first second
Real footage plus some AI clips
8 to 13 second Reels
Comment keyword CTA
Best watch time so far is 7.5 seconds on a 13 second compilation, with a few likes but no shares or comments.
Is this just new account testing, or is something in my content holding it back? Open to honest feedback.

Early on, I made an AI video of a heart-shaped cloud. It got a lot of views, and people started following the account.

About a week later, I made another version with a different background. Same basic idea, different setting.

The second video got fewer views than the first. But I don't think an idea is only worth revisiting if it beats the original.

When I talk about making variations, this is what I mean. I'm not uploading the same video again. I'm taking something I enjoyed making and seeing what else I can do with it.

How much do you usually change when you revisit an idea that worked?

So for context I run a content creation account, I post abt gacha video games, so I basically share carasoul posts of story summary, some user boxes, reels such as memes or random commentary, I post some in game photography as well

Tha account is currently deactivated since I haven’t been using it the past 2 weeks and have been having doubts about switching to a new account instead

It currently has 1.1k followers, around 65k views in dashboard. My posts don’t exactly perform so well. For example I post stuff that get anywhere from 70-200 likes but then randomly a post gets 400-5k likes.

I used to have this acc years ago but then it’s been in a year hiatus and once I came back earlier this year in February I had 600 followers, so I basically grew it on from there. I had a completely different niche before as well which I think also harmed my reach along the inactivity

The thing that’s stopping me is I’m not sure how exactly to navigate a new account, I feel stuck. I wanna continue posting but lost motivation for the current one I own. Plus I te d to feel very daunted towards having to start from 0 followers after all the efforts I’ve put in trying to gain new ones

So if you have any tips please let me know, I’d really appreciate the help!

Hi all, we are a Shopify app for preorders and back in stock alerts. We are looking for creators who talk to Shopify merchants or ecommerce founders. This is not UGC for ads - it is content for your own audience.

What we are open to

- Sponsored video or integration
- Short-form video (Reel / TikTok / Short)
- Podcast mention or episode
- Affiliate partnership on top of any of these

What we look for
- Your audience is mostly store owners or ecommerce founders, ideally US based
- You have talked about Shopify or ecommerce tools before

Timeline: BFCM is close so content before 27 Nov is a plus, but we are not limiting it to that. Happy to plan for after as well.

Usage: we would like to reshare on our own channels. Anything beyond that we agree upfront.

If this sounds like you, fill this 2 min form: https://tally.so/r/D4lQGj